Exploring how uncertainty motivates actions in epidemics

In an epidemic, we often focus on three staple metrics: Who does or doesn’t have the disease, the rate at which people are contracting the disease, and the mortality rates. What’s often left out, as explored in a new book by Jenny Trinitapoli, a professor in the Department of Sociology, is the role of uncertainty in the way individuals make decisions. The book, “An Epidemic of Uncertainty: Navigating HIV and Young Adulthood in Malawi,” was recently published by the University of Chicago Press.